kung fu
/ˈkʌŋ ˈfuː/
"kung-fu" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“kung fu” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A Chinese martial art.
Corpus desk
Index EN-kung-fu · kung fu · English
kung fu · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "K" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | kung fu |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkʌŋ ˈfuː/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “kung fu” in English
Rare enough to double-check
kung fu is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkʌŋ ˈfuː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
kung fu doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From the Wade–Giles romanization of Mandarin 功夫 (gōngfu, “skill, accomplishment, martial art”): kung¹-fu⁵. The correct English form is kung fu, spelled K-U-N-G- -F-U.
Definition
- 1A Chinese martial art.
- 2The Chinese martial arts collectively.
- 3A mastery of or expertise in a skill
- 4A mastery of or expertise in a skill
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how kung fu appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Everybody was kung-fu fighting / Those kicks were fast as lightning
Along the way, they meet Master Wong, who teaches them kung fu and imparts nuggets of Chinese philosophy, knowledge and training that they eventually use to defeat their nemesis and save their village.
Etymology
From the Wade–Giles romanization of Mandarin 功夫 (gōngfu, “skill, accomplishment, martial art”): kung¹-fu⁵.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.